Client: City of Tampa

Overview

Integrated under the Laurel Street Bridge along the Tampa Riverwalk, Woven Waves creates an experience of discovery and surprise for viewers as move by on foot, bicycle, and river, via kayaks and canoes. The bridge is a literal and figurative connector–it connects Tampa geographically, but also connects communities socially, intertwined with multicultural connections across racial and economic divides. “Stitching” together these various communities, the work invokes a crazy quilt concept, combining traditional West African, Cuban, and Scottish cultural patterns in a composition inspired by the switching directions of the currents of the Hillsborough River.

Goals

The City of Tampa was interested in finding site-specific artists to help tell the story of Tampa and the Riverwalk area. Because the allocated space was underneath a historic bridge along the river, we used the visual language of quilting to tell the story of bridging geographic, class and racial boundaries in Tampa.

Process

Working with the City of Tampa, our team, RE:site and Metalab, were able to coordinate a seamless integration with the underpass infrastructure. In terms of the thematic content of the artwork, we worked very closely with the Art Programs Division for the City of Tampa to identify the appropriate cultural patterns relevant to the narrative of the site.